ComicalMayhem

“What about that one?” Sky asked, pointing to the monitor. A Faunis girl was just emerging from a cave, banner in hand.

“Haru Goro, from Sanctum academy. She was in the same year as Pyrrha Nikos,” the headmaster replied, reading off from a scroll. “I’d say she has good odds, if she can keep her head on straight.”

Sky grunted, and turned his attention to the island. The headmaster and he were on the opposite shore of the channel, where medics were helping some students who arrived injured, along with a few other of Sky’s cohorts who were busy fighting off the ocean-bound Grimm that had chased them. “Lotta scrubs this year. I say fail them all.”

“Now now, Sky, patience,” Professor Lionheart replied. “It’s our place to train them. As a professor, you’ll need patience for those that struggle.”

Sky didn’t reply. He turned his attention back to the monitors, swiping through the cameras posted throughout the forest, when someone caught his eye. He grinned. “Now here’s someone with some fire in her eyes.”

***

On the other end of the screen, there was a massive Grimm staring down a tiny figure on the ground. Its massive wings shadowed the sun. It reared its head and gave a startlingly loud cry through its beak, before stretching one of its paws forward, inching closer to the figure. For whatever reason, it didn’t approach. The figure on the ground merely grinned in anticipation, keeping a massive axe balanced on her shoulder with one hand, her other hand on her waist.

The Griffon lunged, spreading its wings to catch as much air as it could. Like a flying dart, the beast moved beak first, ready to eviscerate the red-haired Faunis girl. Unfortunately for it, the Faunis was ready. She let the axe drop behind her, then pulled the trigger on the other end of it. With a thunderous boom, the axe flew upwards; she redirected its force over and down, slamming the axe head straight into the beast’s crown. It squawked as its chin smacked the ground. The force of the blow lifted the faunis girl off the ground. She used her momentum to change the angle of the axe and point the barrel straight into the head; another trigger pull, another thunderous boom, and the Griffon perished.

Thrust into the air by the power of her second shot, she somersaulted and landed on her feet next to the disintegrating Grimm. Hands on her hips, she pointed at the Grimm.

“My name is Yusha Bestial!” She declared. “And you just got Yusha’d!”

Her shoulders stung viciously. Yusha hid the pain beneath the shittiest joke imaginable. The rest of her body ached as well, but this was a level she could handle. She rolled her shoulders, working out the pain, before recovering her axe and moving on. Behind the formerly existing Griffon, there was a massive tree. Tied to its very top was a banner flapping in the wind. Yusha planted her axe into the ground, stood on the beards of both heads, and fired the gun. One shot took her halfway, so she fired again and snatched the banner, before letting gravity take her. She landed on the ground like a superhero.

The banner, on closer inspection, had part of a key sewn into the fabric. She tore it out with little trouble and pocketed it before moving on. Now, all she needed to do was find the other key holder. Briefly, she wondered why she hadn’t run into any other students yet. She put the thought aside; they were all probably spread out, and trying their hardest to succeed. All she had to do was the same! So, Yusha closed her eyes, spun in a circle, and stopped when she started getting dizzy. “That way!” she declared, and started off in the direction she was certain to lead her to the other half of the banner.

***

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck!”

Haru sprinted through the forest, nearly losing her footing on some branches. Her semblance triggered, and she flung around and fired her guns into the canopy, watching the Simian chasing after her retreat after being hit. It howled in pain, but she had no time to pursue. More Simians followed; where they all came from, she had no idea. She just focused on running towards the shore where the boats are. Then again, she also had no idea where that was, so she just ran west.

Haru was very suddenly regretting her life’s choices.

Two more Simians swung closer behind her. She again turned to shoot, but only hit one. The other lunged at her; she quickly converted her weapons into blades and then struck out at it. The simian took a deep cut, but not before slapping its arm into Haru. She flew to the side, taking a heavy blow against a tree, her aura starting to flicker again. She struggled to her feet, tuning her senses to her surroundings. She didn’t hear anything or see anything. Finally, Haru gave up and took a deep breath, letting her guard down at the same time a Sabyr pounced at her from the bushes.

The ground punched Haru just as hard as the Sabyr did. Somehow, she managed to just barely roll out of the way and found herself against a rock wall, the Sabyr approaching and cutting off her escape route. In the rush, she lost her grip on her weapons; they were behind the Grimm approaching her.

It growled as it inched forward; either it was wary of Haru, or savoring the kill. Regardless, it was the only reason she was still alive, though it wouldn’t last long. Disarmed like this, her semblance was effectively useless. She briefly considered scrambling up the tree, wondering if the Sabyr was able to climb trees or not.

There was nothing she could do. Try and run, and the Sabyr will kill her. Sit here, the Sabyr will kill her. Try and climb, the Sabyr will kill her.

Panic flooded her mind. Haru, for probably the first time in her life, was well and truly terrified. Somewhere in the back of her mind, her semblance triggered again; she couldn’t process it, buried under her fear as it was.

The Sabyr snarled, and lunged.

Only the front half moved. It tumbled to the ground lifeless.

An enormous battleaxe had spawned between it and the back half. Holding its handle, a faunis in a long red coat and vibrant red hair; a huge grin splattered on her face.

The only thing in Haru’s mind when she saw her was: Oh my god she’s hot.

Shorter chapter this time. Also, federation is broken, so not a cross post this time, smile emoji!

That is all.

I like espressos (especially mochas) but they take a bit of work to prepare a single cup. With drip brew, I can do very little and get unhealthy amounts of caffeination into my corpse. Also, I pour ungodly amounts of creamer into my coffee. That Mason jar is quite literally half coffee half creamer.

There's been a couple RWBY books, mostly published by Scholastics (the middle/high school bookfair company). I read one of them, After the Fall it was called, following team CVFY.

It was... mostly forgettable. There were a few good plot elements that were intriguing and rather creative, but also a number of questionable decisions made throughout the novel. My favorite bits were with the old man and his grandson, def some strong literature with those two and the plot surrounding them. The main antagonists don't make much sense, though, imo. Each main character gets their own character development moments in the novel, but one definitely stands out as... not that great imo. All around, probably a 6 out 10 for me; above average, but not by much. Enjoyable nonetheless.

It's been a few months since I've read the book and I'm forgetting a lot about it, I should probably read a summary or something of it.

cross-posted from: https://literature.cafe/post/34687159

The atmosphere was heavy as the students followed the headmaster out of the cafeteria. A good chunk straight up refused to follow, taking Sky’s advice to leave. On the walk towards the bullheads, a few had changed their minds and turned around to leave. By the time they reached the landing platform where the large, rectangular airships were, there were less than half of the students who rode up here on the platforms. 

The headmaster and Sky stood near the two bullheads, looking over the crowd. A brief conversation cropped up between the headmaster and Sky, but Haru was too far to hear it. Eventually, Professor Lionheart stepped forward to address the crowd. He gave a brief thanks for staying, and told the remaining students to board the bullheads as they prepared to go to the next part of the initiation. 

Haru got on the one on the left. She was joined by a number of other students, and then Sky boarded as well, walking towards the front of the craft just behind the pilots, and gripping a handle on the ceiling. Strangely, there were no seatbelts on the seats, something nobody questioned. As the doors closed, a few hushed conversations cropped up between the students. Some kept their eyes on Sky, expecting him to silence them or yell again, but it seems their fears were unfounded. Sky simply stared out of the window, watching Haven shrink beneath and water replace it. Haru, for her part, did the same. Her seat neighbor, a person in a teal coat, orange vest, and brown fedora, thankfully didn’t feel the need to start conversation either. 

The din grew a bit louder, until eventually, someone directly asked Sky why the academy thought it’d be a good idea to throw Grimm at the students in the cafeteria no less. They wondered if it wasn’t dangerous to keep that many Grimm at the academy instead of just killing them, and questioned the ethics of risking the student’s lives. Everyone fell silent to listen to the answer.

Sky considered the student for a while, before giving their answer. 

“Life isn’t easy, and being a huntsman is even harder. That’s the first lesson drilled into you at Shade Academy, and they’re right. The desert is harsh, unforgiving, deadly, and so is Shade. That’s how it should be, and it’s why Shade produces the best huntsmen in Remnant. Haven’s coddled its students and people for too long, and I’m here to whip you people into shape. Every Shade student is stronger and better than you are now. By the end of the year, I’ll make sure you’re better than they are. Hell, by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be better than the Grim Reaper.”

“Who’s the Grim Reaper?” Haru asked, curious about the name she hadn’t heard before. 

“Best huntswoman in history,” Sky replied, yawning. “She came out of Mistral, though the academies were in their infancy back then. She’s a legend, I’m surprised you don’t know about her, given she’s from your country. Hell, we’ve heard of her all the way in Vacuo.”

“Why are you here if you’re a Shade graduate?” someone else asked. 

“Transfer. Apparently that old head thinks I need to ‘diversify myself’ and ‘learn to teach all kinds of people’ before I can become a professor, so I’m here for a while.”

The one thing Haru picked up on was that Sky was a professor in training. 

Just then, the intercoms kicked on. Professor Lionheart came on the mic and began explaining the rest of the initiation to them. Apparently, they would be dropped off on the small island in the middle of Lake Matsu, the lake in the middle of the continent of Anima. There, they would have to find banners scattered throughout the island, find the person with the matching banner, and combine the attached key pieces. There are boats stationed on the westernmost part of the island; each boat needs two keys to power, but all the keys are the same and work on all the boats. They’ll have to cross the small channel separating the mainland from the island, and then their initiation will be over. 

“That seems… A little complex,” Haru said. 

Sky shrugged. “It’s how it is.” He reached towards the wall separating the pilots from the interior and strapped something to his belts. Then, he gripped a handle on the ceiling. Strangely, it was the only one. “We’re almost at our destination. You heard Lionheart. Any last questions?”

Someone asked where they’re going to be dropped off at.

“That’s up to you, but you better figure it out quick. Not much time to prepare your landing strategy,” Sky replied. 

“Landing strategy?” someone asked.

Sky grinned. The rear doors of the bullhead opened up. They could feel the wind slapping their faces and the students in the rear shimmied further in. 

“We’re landing, right?” someone asked the thought everyone had. “We have to be, right?? The doors opened because we’re landing, right??”

“Nope,” Sky replied.

The bullhead suddenly pitched upwards. The students tumbled out of the back like cargo dumped from a ship. Most of them screamed, some out of fear, some out of joy.

For her part, Haru managed to grip one of the seats as the bullhead pitched. She gripped it with her life, pleading with Sky to pull her up. She was the only one left in the cabin. He was still standing on the floor, which had become the wall now. Sky offered her an apologetic shrug, pulled out his key blade, and fired a single shot at her hands. 

A heartbeat later, Haru was tumbling through the sky without a parachute. Somewhere in the depths of her mind, she recalled Sky’s words about a landing strategy. 

Unfortunately for her, the only thoughts in her head was: oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit.

Eyes wide, she stared at the ground rapidly flying at her, the pounding of her heart in her ears. In her peripherals, she could see the other students falling through the air, many of them already firing their weapons to the ground and preparing for landing. Haru flailed, trying to change the ammo in her swords while they were in the sheath, and failing. 

“Come on, come on, fuck, come on!” she screamed desperately. Finally, she managed to unsheathe the sword, changed the ammo with a swiftness she never demonstrated before, and pointed them at the ground. 

She dumped both her magazines into the ground only twenty feet from it, blowing a crater into the dirt below her. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to kill all her momentum. She slammed into the ground, her aura immediately flickering as all the air left her lungs. A sharp pain blossomed from her chest; she thought she might have a broken rib. 

She crawled out of the crater, face contorted with pain, and looked up at the bullhead flying away. Her head spun suddenly, and she turned to the ground and threw up, clutching a tree and whispering obscenities at herself. Eventually, she collapsed and laid against the tree, trying with the last of her mental faculties to avoid the vomit on the ground. She had no idea what happened. Before, she didn’t have a problem with heights; she’s flown in bullheads and stood at the top of a mountain before. Nothing. But that. She swore to herself she would never let anyone else toss her out into the sky. 

With shaky hands, she checked her aura level on her scroll. Like she thought, it was in the red.

“We just started,” she complained, staring up at the sky.

Or rather, at the Grimm staring down at her from the tree top. 

A strange, simian creature was staring down at her with blood red eyes. Its arms were abnormally long, and its tail slung around a thick branch, holding it steady. White plates of bone covered its chest and shoulders, and a thick plate covered the crown of its head. 

Haru stared into its eyes for a moment. It stared back, and then it grinned. White, sharp, teeth filled its mouth like spikes, and a drop of Grimm slime leaked out and slapped Haru on the face. 

“Fuck!” 

She jumped to her feet, rolling away just in time. One of its long arms slapped the ground where she was just sitting with an audible thud. She tumbled into the crater, and then crawled up the other side. She sprinted for the trees but tripped over a rock. She felt something whoosh through the air over her head, and when she glanced upwards, she saw the simian hanging from a tree branch above her, its tail holding it up. It made some loud screeching noises in a strange rhythm, and for a brief moment, Haru wondered if it was calling more Grimm. She wouldn’t wait around to find out. She took off through the forest, the sound of the simian swinging through the vines and branches above her sending shivers down her spine. With her semblance off to conserve aura, she had no idea where the next blow might come from, or if she was surrounded, or where she was even going. Instead, she just ran. 

Time passed. Haru’s mad scramble through the forest turned into a mad scramble over the hill side, still being chased, though this time by other Grimm. Without a moment’s rest, she managed to evade a few more Grimm and duck into a cave carved into the face of a cliff. She half expected to find even more Grimm, judging by the way this day was turning out. She was right on that part, but the giant Ursa laying dead on the ground was of little consequence. Another student must have taken it down, or perhaps a group of students, probably very recently. Heaving hot breaths, Haru crawled past it, watching the Grimm’s body disappear into ash as she sat on the cold hard stone floor of the cave. Her side felt stitched, her head spun and black spots filled her vision. For a moment, she wondered why she had been running so much. Wasn’t she a huntress? She should be facing down these Grimm without fear. Except, the landing had been particularly rough on her. She blamed that, along with the lack of rest to recover her aura. It  certainly had nothing to do with her skill as a huntress. She just needed a few moments, and then she’ll be on her way. With weary eyes, she scanned the rest of the cave, spotting a small strip of cloth in the far back, near where the cave ended, tucked between two rocks. She squinted at it, then stood and walked over in halting steps. She reached up and pulled the cloth free. 

Half of a key rolled out. 

Haru stared at it for a while. Then she sighed. Luck was a form of skill, she guessed, but she couldn’t help but feel like she robbed whoever’s banner this was supposed to be, since they did the killing. She shrugged. All’s fair in love and war, she guessed, and pocketed the key and the banner. She stretched out a bit, and prepared to leave the cave. Her aura hasn’t fully recovered yet, but the time she spent in the cave was enough for her to catch her breath and recuperate somewhat. She performed a cursory check of her health; it seemed her rib was merely bruised, not broken, which she was rather thankful for. It still hurt like a bitch and a half, but a bruise she could push through. Broken ribs would put her out of commission for a while. 

Haru took a sip from a small water bottle she mercifully brought with her into the bullhead, then stepped out of the cave, shielding her eyes to the sunlight. She gave a glance around, and, finding no one and more importantly no Grimm, she set out to find the other half of her banner.

I posted recently asking how to make a good latte, made this one following all of your advice. Here's what I did:

1. Measured out 15g of espresso ground (from a pre-ground source). Was shooting for 18 but the porta filter ran out of space. Credit BurntWits.
2. Tamped it down a bit at first to get it spread evenly as I could, then hard into the portafilter per SreudianFlip's instructions.
3. Pulled the machine from storage, placed portafilter into the machine, then turned it on to the double shot mode (it's set for 25 seconds).
4. Realized I forgot to put in water (it was stored dry), filled the reservoir with water and waited for it to cool down.
5. Repeated step 3 with the same puck (hey look at me, im using coffee lingo). Tried getting it to 30g of espresso (credit Micromot for 1:2 ratio), but messed up the timing and accidentally got 51g espresso. Don't recall what time I stopped it at; I just turned the machine off when I hit just under 20g and I guess it ran for a bit longer. Espresso went into a ceramic small bowl.
6. Measured out 150g of cold 2% fat milk into a ceramic mug to steam (credit some probably AI generated website for 1 oz espresso to 5 oz steamed milk [yes the website used oz and im working with g, there's probably a difference but to be honest with you im not sure how to do the conversions {that's a lie im a CS major with an interest in physics and a person with access to the internet, I probably could have done it, I just got lazy}]. The ceramic mug used for steaming was different from the one used for drinking). Steamed milk, forgot to put in flavoring, added chocolate chips (tiny semi-sweet) while steaming. Ended up steaming for 65 seconds.
7. Poured espresso into pictured mug, added milk on top.

It came out... meh. Bit bitter; unsure if that's from the milk, the chocolate, or the espresso. Added an amount of sugar and it was better. I have a suspicion it was the chocolate chips.

Thanks to Burntwits, Micromot, Robin, AngryishHumanoid, and SreudianFlip for your comments and help! I quite appreciate it, and I hope my next one turns out better.

Ive learned 2 things about my machine. 1: When pouring, pressing the power button will shut off the process, but whatever water already in the process will keep running (I think) meaning to get the desired amount of espresso I have to time it right. 2: I can program the timing, but all this means is the machine will run like normal, except the timer will count up instead of down. I guess this means that the next time I use the double shot (DS) espresso mode, it will run for whatever amount of time it recorded when I last programmed it. I don't know if DS mode actually does anything different from single shot mode besides being a second preprogrammed timer to run the pull for.

Tools used: Two ceramic mugs for steaming and drinking, small ceramic bowl for holding the espresso temporarily, my roommates weed scale (I think its intended for food. nothing made direct contact except the ceramics and portafilter), 2% fat milk, x branded Semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, y branded 100% Arabica espresso grounds, z branded espresso machine and accessories.

cross-posted from: https://literature.cafe/post/34486539

So I'm writing a fanfic. Big deal, whatever, yeah I lack imagination and need to rip off other people's works and shove my friend's OCs in there, so what?

Anyways I might as well put this community to good use and post my strange otherworldly and shoddy attempts at longer fiction on here in a piecemeal style because I have no where else to do it and no one else is going to read that shit. Which, is actually kind of sad honestly. I love to write, but it's lonely writing stuff no one will ever read. Like building a Minecraft world in singleplayer. No one's gonna look at it, or appreciate it. It's yours, and no one else's.

Anyways enough senseless rambling. Here's Hydrangeas in Bloom, a RWBY yuri fanfiction taking place in Haven Academy, featuring Haru Goro and Yusha Bestial, my two friend's characters from FFXIV. Don't ask. I got paid to write about them and they became my OCs now. Here's chapter 1, Grimm Meal.

Haru stood at the base of a sheer cliff, staring, awestruck, at the buildings on the top. This wasn't a scene she hadn't seen before. She saw it plenty, and every time she did, she couldn't help but stare. Haven Academy, perched at the very peak of the mountain Mistral was built on, had always been her dream. Now, it was finally coming true. It still felt like a dream; so much so, she almost missed the chaperone's call to get on the platform. She joined the rest of the some 70 odd people who would serve as her classmates for the next few years of training.

She didn't know how to feel. Nervous? Shy? Afraid? Perhaps all of those emotions tumbled in her like laundry in a machine. She clutched her purse and watched as the city carved into the forests and rocks fell away below her. Her hard work and dedication was finally paying off.

Briefly, she wondered who she could get along with. While looking out over the rail, she halfheartedly listened in to the chaperone, a professor named Haubergeon apparently, prattle on about the school or whatever. What she also heard were the muttered conversations about her.

"Wow look at that weirdo, what are those horns on the side of her head?"

"Freaky! Does she even have ears?"

"Oh man, you think she's deaf? That would be hilarious! She's not gonna make the cut here, I guarantee it."

She was used to the jibes and jeers. She's faced them all her life. She tried to put them out of her mind. Almost unconsciously, she held a hand to the horns that served as her ears.

"Hey horn girl! Are you deaf?"

She turned to see another student, a girl with blond hair and twin buns with a cruel smile splattered on her lips.

"Well, are you gonna say something?" she asked, waving her hand in front of her face.

Haru sighed and ignored her, instead staring out over the city again and waiting until the lift ride was over.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, horn girl! What are you, deaf and dumb?" The girl reached over and yanked on Haru's horn.

Haru cried out, and almost in reflex shoved the girl away.

"Bitch! Don't fucking touch me, you creep!" She went to slap Haru.

Haru watched the hand sail through the air almost in slow motion. She stepped back just enough for the slap to hit nothing but air, eyeing the girl the entire time.

When she hit nothing, the mean girl just stared at Haru for a brief moment. Then she clicked her teeth, flicked her off, and went back to her laughing clique.

Haru sighed. She was glad it hadn’t escalated. She eyed the chaperone, who was supposed to stop matters like this, but he was still preoccupied delivering speeches that hardly anyone was listening to. Briefly, Haru wondered if this was the kind of professor she would have to deal with for the next four years as she trained. She certainly hoped not. Most of the students were tuned out. They broke the tension of a new beginning with jokes and chatter all around the lift.

One piece of the crowd, though, turned quite a bit louder than the rest; it crescendoed into shouts and arguments. The commotion tore Haru’s attention away from the gorgeous forested mountainsides. It drew a lot of other students in too, though the professor was still enthralled in his own speeches.

The crowd quickly thickened around the argument, clearing a small space around the four involved. Three of them were human, two of which were standing back. Really, the argument was between the scrawny mohawk man with a mischievous grin plastered stupidly on his face, and… someone else. She could scarcely see through the crowd, but on her tippy toes she was able to see at least the back of the other person. Like Haru, she was a faunus. Unlike Haru, she had cat ears on the top of her head and red hair. That was about all she could make out, before the scrawny human said some witty remark she couldn’t hear. Apparently, it was impressive, because it drew oohs, aahs, and chuckles from the crowd. The faunus girl though, didn’t take it as well, and Haru knew what happened next before it happened. A fist flew, crashing into the boy’s face and sending him flying into the two lackeys behind him. That got the professor’s attention.

“Why, I say, what in the world is happening here? Roughhousing already, and we haven’t even gotten through orientation! Calm yourselves! There will be plenty of time for fighting later. Move aside students!” Professor Haubergeon shuffled and siddled his way through the crowd of students, all authority in his voice lost under the nasally accent. Still, he managed to cut deep enough, and break up the fight before it got any worse. Another wave of chittering ran through the crowd, and Haru caught rumors of what had been said.

“I can’t believe he called her a tuna sniffing stray! Can you believe that?!”

“Well it’s probably true…”

“Aw, come on, isn’t that a bit much?”

“Well it’s probably true…”

“I heard she called him a nepo baby who couldn’t hack it without daddy’s money, and so he called her flea ridden idiot and told her to go chase butterflies.”

“What’s a nepo baby?”

“Well it’s probably true…”

At this point, Haru wished someone would punch the student who kept repeating themself. Putting that aside, if what that scrawny boy said was even half as bad as the rumors, he deserved what was coming to him. Still though, despite her semblance giving her the heads up on what was about to happen, she hadn’t expected the boy’s aura to drop that quickly. His aura was supposed to protect him but even now it was flickering as the professor was helping him up. Either that boy was weak, or that faunus lady was incredibly strong…

She only had a few moments longer to wonder if the faunus girl would be ok, before the edge of the cliff cut past them and they got their first view of the Haven school grounds. Haru’s jaw dropped. Up here, the air was crisp and cool, tasting of dew drops and smelling of grass. Which made sense, considering the massive sprawling lawn before them, cut in half by a path leading forward. At the end of that path, was the collection of fancy wooden buildings that would serve as their home and study grounds for the next four years. Sprinkled on the lawns were trees offering shade and a smattering of current students, their seniors, waving in the new arrivals. Professor Haubergeon pushed his way to the front of the pack, and led the students down the sanctimonious path, through the dormitories, and towards the much larger building at the very end. That, he explained, was the academy’s grand hall, and was where they would spend the foreseeable future honing their skills and learning everything they would need to know as Huntsmen.

The next few hours were a blur to Haru. They went through orientation, where they were introduced to the school and its staff, were taken on a tour of the grounds and shown the big spacious area in front of the great hall that they called the quad, and then they broke for lunch. She sat by herself, a little separated from everyone else at the food hall, picking at her food and waiting for the next part of the day.

She wasn’t sure what she had expected when she came to Haven for the first time. Perhaps she thought the school would throw all the students into a forest full of Grimm with 0 preparation, or maybe she thought it’d be more like Sanctum academy, where they started with basic combat trials to get an idea of everyone’s abilities and form teams. So far, though… things have been mostly normal. Like any regular college, really. Mostly paperwork and meetings and speeches. And racism, but that’s just Mistral.

She also hadn’t expected anyone to sit down with her. A girl with bright red hair done up in drill-shaped pigtails approached her. In addition to the school uniform, she wore two long, black, thigh high socks. “Hey!” She yelled as she slammed both palms on the table.

Haru was mid-glass of water the moment that happened. She coughed and spluttered in surprise, the piece of food in her mouth jumping down her throat a bit too far. She coughed more, pounding the table with a fist while her face turned blue.

“Holy shit are you ok??” The strange girl asked.

Haru shook her head, one hand gripping the table firmly and the other trying to massage the food down her throat. It didn’t work.

Eventually the girl leapt over the table, grasped her stomach, and performed the Ozlich maneuver on her, getting her to spit a piece of chewed up meat out.

Haru choked and sputtered, struggling to compose herself as she grabbed the glass of water with a shaky hand.

“Whoa, I think I just saved your life!” the girl said.

Haru gulped down the rest of the water, and glared at the girl. “Yeah after you almost took it from me,” she replied.

The girl shrugged, picking up the piece of meat and popping it into her mouth.

Haru just stared, disgusted.

“Oh, by the way, my name is Kasane! Kasane Teto, but you can call me Teto. You’re welcome for saving your life!” Teto put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest with pride.

“Right. Thanks. Um, why are you here?” Haru asked. This strange creature was being… particularly odd.

“You looked lonely and I wanted to say hi!”

Haru blinked. “Oh, um… Thanks.” She didn’t know quite what to say, or quite where to look, so she just let her gaze drift back downwards to the food.

“What do you think of the orientation so far?” Teto asked.

“Well, it’s been kind of boring, in all honesty,” Haru replied.

“Yeah, I thought something more exciting would have happened. Like, doesn’t Beacon have-”

Just then, the windows shattered. Grimm poured in from the windows and through the doors, pouncing on the unexpecting students.

“What the fuck?!” Haru yelled out.

Yells and screams could be heard from around the cafeteria. No one was expecting a completely random Grimm attack to occur, much less on campus.

Even so, everyone present was a Huntsman in training, and huntsmen don’t go anywhere without their weapons.

The sudden shock quickly abided; the students who were caught in the initial assault were freed from the grasp of Grimm by those who were more quick to the fight than the others. Soon, the sound of weapons unsheathing and transforming mingled with the growls and snarls of the various Grimm. For Haru’s part, she jumped on to the table and unsheathed the twin blades on her hips, just in time to slice apart a wolf-like Grimm lunging at her; a Beowulf, Haru briefly noted, before hearing a snarl behind her. She turned, but she was too late.

Another Beowulf was charging at her. Mid lunge, though, two powerful drills jutted into it from underneath. The drills, rotating in different directions, tore apart the Grimm in a matter of seconds. Teto stood up, covered in the black slick of a dead Grimm, all smiles, a drill attached to each hand. Her pigtails were missing.

“Hah! Now that’s more like it!”

Haru sensed something coming from the side, and dodged just in time for another Grimm to appear. She ran backwards along the tables, firing back at the Grimm as Teto tore it apart. Then, her semblance kicked in again. She jerked herself to the left to avoid someone else doing the same as her. Another Faunus was running backwards on the tables too, firing a bow with hardlight arrows at the Grimm around the cafeteria. A Grimm crawling along the ceiling had several arrows sprout from its back and neck before it fell off, disappearing mid-air.

“Whoa!” they said, shocked to see Haru there. “Careful!”

“You too!” Haru shot back, and then literally shot back, firing the pistols attached to her swords at a Grimm pouncing towards the Faunus. She briefly noticed the cat ears on the other Faunus’s head before combining her two swords into a double-ended sword she called a twinblade. She twirled it in the air, slicing through two more Grimm that came flying through her and changing the ammunition on her guns at the same time, the cartridges popping out of the blades and being replaced.

“Name’s J'atoh! Pleasure!” The cat Faunus said.

Haru responded in kind, before firing one of the swords on her twinblade away and straight into a Grimm crawling over top of a crying student. Haru briefly noted it was the same blonde girl with twin buns from earlier. She sprinted in her direction, adding to her momentum by firing the extreme power bullets that she used for movement and thrusting her other blade into the same Grimm’s side. It fell over and died, disappearing within moments.

“Th-thank you!” the girl said, but Haru ignored her. She leapt away, sheathing her swords on either side of her and firing the guns to launch herself up and over, towards the far end of the cafeteria. Mid-air, she stabbed into a leaping Grimm. She planted her feet on the Grimm and used the momentum to surf along the table, turning around and firing more ammo backwards to support the other students. She lost balance just as her semblance rang again. She kicked off the Grimm as it snapped at her heels, just barely missing. She tried to flip around and land on her feet, but she couldn’t recover in time. She fell on the table and rolled for a bit, somehow managing to stumble to her feet. Just then her semblance triggered again; she was too slow and still trying to catch her footing just as another Grimm tackled her. Suddenly, a massive hole exploded in its side, in time with a huge ear splitting blast. Then, a massive axe went flying head over handle through the cafeteria, splitting two more Grimm in half before a red blur ran past her vision. She barely had time to register what just happened before a whistle rang throughout the hall. Rising to her feet and clutching her head, she checked the rest of the room to see it had been fully cleared.

The students were in various states; some were panting for breath, eyes darting around the room. Others were standing confidently, chit chatting amongst themselves. Some were crying and sobbing, or emerging from hiding spots. Some of them were bleeding, or unconscious, and she wondered if they would be ok. For her part, Haru checked her own aura levels on her scroll. She was mostly ok, though the surprise attack from the last two Grimm left her a bit unsteady.

The whistle blew again, and this time all the students in the cafeteria turned their focus towards the sound. Two people were walking into the cafeteria. An older gentleman with grey hair like a lion’s mane, and by his side, a bored looking human about Haru’s own age, a giant key behind their head and their arms hanging around it.

“Greetings, students, and congratulations on getting through the first part of your initiation!” The older gentleman said.

Immediately, someone complained. “Initiation?! Those were Grimm! Here, in the school!”

“Calm down, calm down. I’m sure you have many questions,” the gentleman said. “My name is Leonardo Lionheart, I’m the headmaster here at Haven academy. Those Grimm you just fought were ones we had captured and prepared specifically for this challenge. As hunstmen-”

Someone else interrupted. “Are you crazy?! We could have died! What are you doing holding Grimm at the academy? This is madness, there’s people in the city just below, what if the Grimm got out?”

“Now-” the headmaster began to say, but he was quickly interrupted again.

“Our initiation?! My best friend got hurt! He could have died!”

“We were fighting for our lives here! There wasn’t even a warning!”

“How could you-”

Then the younger person by the headmaster’s side strode forward and yelled, their voice booming throughout the cafeteria. “Shut up!” they yelled. “You’re huntsmen in training. You will be fighting Grimm. You will find yourself in do or die situations, and you won’t always know what’s coming. If you’ve got a problem with this, then quit now!” They pointed at the doors, their voice still booming throughout the room. “The doors are right over there, we won’t stop you if you can’t handle it. Hell, we won’t even blame you. Matter of fact, do it! I’d rather know that you can’t hack it now, than trust my life to you in the field and watch you fail me. This is the life you subscribed to, so get with the program or go do something else!”

They finished their speech, meeting everyone’s eyes in turn. They had managed to cow everyone here into a total silence that was only broken by the headmaster clearing their throat.

“Thank you very much, Sky. To the rest of you, I’m sure you’re upset, but what Sky said is correct. Rest assured, we had professionally licensed huntsmen on standby, ready to swoop in if they felt anyone was in real danger of death, as well as medics waiting just outside.” As he said that, more people walking in with stretchers and plus symbols marking their clothing. “At the end of the day, however, you are planning on being Huntsmen. The life you chose won’t be easy. It’ll be fraught with danger every minute of your lives, and it’s here at this academy that you’ll learn to hold your own and in teams. But, it starts with an understanding of how difficult things will be for you going forward. You’ll be given every opportunity to succeed, don’t worry, but the cadre of this academy decided on this… rather unconventional method of hammering that into you. For now, I ask that you accompany me to the landing strips. We’ll be taking Bullheads to the location of the next part of your initiation.”

Leonardo turned and strode towards the exit, Sky snarling at the students as they turned and walked with him. Haru spoke out the question on everyone’s mind.

“Wait, we don’t even get a break?”

Leonardo turned towards the students. “No.”

Aaand that's chapter 1. Bit rough around the edges, beginnings are always hard. Chapter 2, 3, and 4 are pretty much already done at time of posting this, but I'll pace out the releases so they don't flood all.

I'm just going to cross-post it for now, formatting be damned.

Someone in my class was wearing an RWBY shirt and I would like to approach them. How do I do that?

Edit: Thank you for the serious replies! This was intended to be a shitpost, but I appreciate the genuineness.

I have an espresso machine, some shitty AI generated brand my mom bought me from Amazon (chefman it's called, and it's not actually all that shitty I don't think). Anyways every time I go to make a mocha or some other kind of flavored latte, I have no idea what I'm doing. I usually do two shots of espresso, then fill my mug about halfway or less with milk and flavor (choccy chips or one of the syrups I have), steam it for uhh like 60 to 90 seconds, then add the espresso in.

I find my lattes... or cappuccinos? I'm not even sure of what the end product is when I make stuff. Anyways I find them ok, but not as good as products from actual cafes. For example, starbucks mochas are better than my homemade ones, and the mochas at this random ass cafe in the local hospital are also, in my opinion, better than mine, though it's been a while since I had either. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, mostly because I don't know what I'm even doing. How much milk should I be using? How much flavorings, how much sweeteners, if any, do I pour the espresso shots into the cup after I steam the milk or do I pour the steamed milk over the espresso? How long do I steam it for? Is my machine actually shitty like I earlier described or am I being rude to my mother?

In short, how the hell do I get professional, cafe level mochas at home with my machine?

Edit: TIL I know nothing about espresso making...

Edit2: Ok here's my exact process.

1. I get the bag/can-thing of preground espresso-designated coffee grounds I have in a cabinet.
2. I scoop some out, and fill the designated 2-shot portafilter my machine came with to the very tip of the fill line (usually leaves the portafilter nearly entirely full). Then I tamp, and then put the grounds away. The exact amount is unknown to me, and I don't measure particularly well.
3. I put the portafilter in the machine, then press the 2 shot button to serve the shots into a ramekin or some small dish large enough to temporarily hold the espresso. The machine has time settings for 2 shot servings, it pours liquid for some adjustable period of time but I left it on default. I don't recall what it is but I believe it's around 20 seconds?
4. After the espresso is poured, I pour some milk into my designated espresso mug that I will drink out of once everything is done. I do not measure the milk; I just pour until I feel like I have enough milk. I also usually add some flavorings; syrups or chocolate chips, usually.
5. I turn the machine's frothing mode on, wait for it to preheat (there's a preheating indicator), twist the knob that allegedly controls the steaming wand to max, and froth the milk for about 60 to 90 seconds, or until I can visibly see a layer of foam. The dial for the steamer is continuous, it's not a binary on-off or discrete off-min-mid-max thing, but I don't actually know what it controls besides on and off.
6. Once the milk is frothed, I pour the espresso into the mug, stir, and drink.

Apparently I ought to be measuring the grounds before putting them into the portafilter, and measuring the espresso as it pours, though I have no control over how much is poured beyond the time the machine runs for. I don't know, I'm a scrub at this and all my espresso gear was gifted to me over the years, including the grounds. I apologize for being a heathen, please educate me on this art. I have no other resources besides the internet (which is 90% AI) and Youtube I guess.

Is there a simple way to turn off the word wrapping in the default terminal for Ubuntu/Mint? So far I haven't found anything from recent years and there doesn't seem to be a toggle or anything in the preferences menu. Most relevant threads are from like 14 years ago suggesting less command.

If not, are there alternative terminals that have word wrap disabled that I can use on Mint?

I followed the directions on SFML's website for installation and usage via CMake. Cloned the git repo and ran cmake -B build cmake --build build. Everything went fine, but when I try to compile the test program with g++, it fails with a few different errors.

Here's the errors:

src/main.cpp: In function ‘int main()’:
src/main.cpp:11:45: error: qualified-id in declaration before ‘event’
   11 |                 while ( const std::optional event = window.pollEvent() )
      |                                             ^~~~~
src/main.cpp:13:30: error: ‘event’ was not declared in this scope
   13 |                         if ( event->is<sf::Event::Closed>() )
      |                              ^~~~~
src/main.cpp:13:59: error: expected primary-expression before ‘)’ token
   13 |                         if ( event->is<sf::Event::Closed>() )
      |                                                           ^

And the main file:

#include <SFML/Graphics.hpp>

int main()
{
	sf::RenderWindow window( sf::VideoMode( { 200, 200 } ), "SFML works!" );
	sf::CircleShape shape( 100.f );
	shape.setFillColor( sf::Color::Green );

	while ( window.isOpen() )
	{
		while ( const std::optional event = window.pollEvent() )
		{
			if ( event->is<sf::Event::Closed>() )
				window.close();
		}

		window.clear();
		window.draw( shape );
		window.display();
	}
}

It should work to my knowledge, I think. I mean, this is straight from SFML's github and tutorial page on their website, so it should be functional as-is once the cmake stuff is handled, right?

EDIT: Figured it out. Had to build the executable from the build folder via make.